Posts Tagged ‘Harry Reid’

When you have someone help set stuff up for you (like a blog page) it’s a good idea to write down passwords. I changed computers a couple weeks ago and haven’t been able to log into NobleThinking – sorry about the silent treatment.

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As you likely know, I fly. A lot. So I read this headline with interest:

Friday 13th travellers take chance on flight 666 to HEL

Now, they aren’t actually flying to hell. Every airport in the world has a three letter code, some which are obvious like LAX, PHX or SFO and some which aren’t as obvious like ORD (Chicago) or MCO (Orlando). HEL is the airport code for Helsinki.

Would I take that flight? Sure. I’m not superstitious (expect in baseball) and I’m writing this while on a flight on Friday the 13th already.

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Sometimes it’s better to not listen to your kid’s playlist. It makes you realize they are growing up way too fast.

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When it comes to Syria, I can’t imagine it makes sense to say, “Hey Russia, great idea!” Russia may not be the menace that it was during the Cold War, but it is not an ally. Still, Putin is way more cool than our President.

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I’ve been in politics for more than 20 years and I figure I have pretty much seen it all. But sometimes in politics I see something so beyond the pale that it still shocks me. That is the case with the latest move by Senate President Harry Reid (D-NV) and other Senate Democrats.

They are really unhappy that Sen. David Vitter continues to denounce ObamaCare and is saying that lawmakers shouldn’t be getting subsidized health care coverage. You may remember that Sen. Vitter was accused of having a relationship with a call girl a number of years ago.

Senate Democrats have had all they can take from David Vitter and his fixation on Obamacare — and they’re dredging up his past prostitution scandal to hit back.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has infuriated Democrats this week by commandeering the Senate floor, demanding a vote on his amendment repealing federal contributions to help pay for lawmakers’ health care coverage.

But Democratic senators are preparing a legislative response targeting a sordid Vitter episode. If Vitter continues to insist on a vote on his proposal, Democrats could counter with one of their own: Lawmakers will be denied those government contributions if there is “probable cause” they solicited prostitutes.

You couldn’t make this stuff up. This is junior high school level bullying. Now, I’ve never been a fan of Harry Reid, but this is so beneath someone who is supposed to represent the people that you have to call him what is: a real a**. He truly demonstrates why the Democratic mascot is a donkey.

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I love the Disney movie “Up.” So I read with interest that there was a guy who used hundreds of colored balloons to take off from Maine to cross the Atlantic Ocean. That takes some serious guts.

Alas, about 12 hours into the trip, he landed in Newfoundland and proclaimed, “This doesn’t look like France.” At least he has a sense of humor.

Democrat Senator Ben Nelson is retiring, making it almost a sure bet that his Senate seat will switch to Republican in the 2012 election.

National Democrats (particularly Harry Reid) were desperate to keep Nelson in the race (and his $3 million bank account) because if he were running for re-election, they had at least a fighting chance to keep the seat.

Ben Nelson is not dumb, and he calculated that Nebraskans have tired of his claims to be a conservative Democrat, but siding with his liberal colleagues on the big votes (Stimulus and Health care being two biggies).

I suspect recent ads run by American Crossroads (see ad here) and Americans for Prosperity Nebraska (see ad here) had an impact on Nelson’s thinking and whether he wanted to spend the next year being thrashed with his own record.

This news reminded me of a web video I came across a while ago and blogged about here. It’s really funny.

Ben Nelson may not be laughing today, but most Nebraskans are cheering.

UPDATE

Aaron Blake from the Washington Postreports that Nelson has posted an retirement announcement video which you can see here.

And Harry Reid is a shameless hypocrite.In a story about Washington’s Sen. Patti Murray, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, we find this nugget:

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., another member of the Senate’s Democratic leadership, has received $1.58 million from the securities and investment industry during the current campaign cycle. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has taken $902,000, even more than he has received from the gaming industry. (emphasis added)

To put that in perspective, there is this tidbit from the Wall Street Journal:

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrats have received nearly two-thirds of the $34.7 million donated by the entire securities and investment industry since Jan. 1, 2009. Democrats took in 57% of Wall Street’s donations in the 2008 campaign and 52% during the 2006 midterm elections.

The last time Wall Street contributed more money to Republicans than Democrats was during the 2004 presidential election cycle when the GOP collected 52% of their donations, according to the center.

Reid needs to look in the mirror and recognize that if what Republicans are doing equates to making love to Wall Street, than what he is doing is just a cheap trick.

Politicians cross the line of civil debate on a pretty regular basis – so I usually ignore it as typical.However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) goes completely over the top in what would be shouted down as outrageous had a Republican uttered the words.

Equating Republican attempts to slow the process down on healthcare reform to those who didn’t want to abolish slavery is completely and utterly out of line.Every descendent of slavery is owed an apology from Mr. Reid.

Remember the year 1952.As you read about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his reelection prospects, remember 1952.

1952 was the year a relatively young and unknown upstart businessman (who only had a few years experience on a city council) challenged the sitting Senate Majority Leader and won.

The challenger was Barry Goldwater and he beat Earnest McFarland – in a state in which Democrats outnumbered Republicans nearly 5-1.McFarland was seen as too out of touch with Arizona, too much a part of the “inside the beltway” problem.Reid seems to have a lot in common with McFarland – and that could prove to be a problem for him.

If 2010 repeats 1952, it will be the first time in 58 years that the sitting U.S. Senate Majority Leader is defeated in an election.Couldn’t happen at a better time.